Righty Matt Garza off to hot start

Rays ace leads AL in ERA and innings pitched

Matt Garza has pitched eight innings and allowed one run or fewer in each of his first three starts, a feat last accomplished by Curt Schilling for the Phillies in 1998.

"I'm just trying to stick with what's working," Garza told the Tampa Tribune. "Every five days is the same thing."

Garza leads the American League with a 0.75 ERA and 24 innings pitched, and he's tied with Casey Janssen of the Blue Jays with three wins.

"The thing that stands [out] more than anything is his demeanor," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "He's less emotional."

A-Rod sets triple play in motion: The Yankees turned their first triple play since June 3, 1968, when Dooley Womack caught Johnny Roseboro's bases-loaded line drive, threw to third baseman Bobby Cox for the second out and on to Mickey Mantle at first base.

This one was a more conventional 5-4-3 from Alex Rodriguez to Robinson Cano to Nick Johnson.

"I didn't think it was a triple play at all," Yankees manager Joe Girardi told the New York Post. "It's hard to go to your right and stop like that. It was a great job by Alex."

Memorable night for Suzuki: Even thought the A's won, Kurt Suzuki understood that his home run was going to be overshadowed by the triple play he grounded into.

"The homer's going to be off TV in a day, but the triple play is going to be on forever, right?" Suzuki told the Oakland Tribune of his sixth-inning grounder with two on that went from third to second to first. "So, I guess I figured out a way to stay on TV now."

Hunter's Gold Glove collection grows: Torii Hunter is having storage issues with his Gold Glove collection ever since the trophy design was changed four years ago.

Hunter, who received his ninth Gold Glove prior to Thursday's game against the Tigers, said the new version doesn't fit in his trophy cabinet, but he doesn't plan to build a new cabinet.

"No, shoot," Hunter told the Los Angeles Times. "I'm getting older. It's not like I'm going to get a lot more. But I keep myself young ... and I feel like I can run with any 20-year-old out there."

Podsednik not getting caught up in hype: Scott Podsednik is throwing some cold water on the excitement over his hot start.

"If you start reading into much of it, you can believe it," Podsednik, who's batting .449, told MLB.com. "If you don't read it, you don't worry about it, you don't focus on it, then it's not going to be that big of a deal. So, I tend to just not get caught up in it."

Span enjoying comforts of new home: Denard Span is making himself at home at the Twins' new Target Field.

"It makes the day go by a lot easier, coming here and being able to relax and have a nice facility," Span told MLB.com. "It feels comfortable in here. We're not on top of each other like we were at the Metrodome. It's a lot better here."

Ellsbury dealing with four fractured ribs: Jacoby Ellsbury requested a CT scan of his ribs after having trouble taking deep breaths since a collision on the field on April 11. The CT scan showed Ellsbury has a hairline fracture in four ribs.

"For me, it just wasn't getting better, so I kind of asked for it," Ellsbury told the Boston Herald. "And I'm glad I went out and did it, just to get some closure into what's going on."

Molina brothers don't want to miss an inning: The Molina brothers are known for being durable backstops. That is why Bengie Molina was not surprised when his brother Yadier caught all 20 innings in the Cardinals' recent marathon game against the Mets.

"That's him," Bengie Molina told the San Francisco Chronicle of his brother. "That comes from his heart, for the team. I'm sure Tony [LaRussa] wanted to switch him and he said, 'No, this is my game.'"

Asked if he could catch 29 innings over two days as Yadier did, Bengie said, "Heck yeah, but it's not going to be pretty afterward."

Silva shining after move to Cubs: Carlos Silva, who is 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA, wants to keep up his momentum.

"For the last two years, I've been working so hard to get something good out of all this work," Silva told MLB.com. "This is a good start, but we have to keep working hard. There's a long way to go. I can continue helping this team."